Tag Archives: change

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Trunks, Autumn

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Aspen Trunks, Autumn

Aspen Trunks, Autumn. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A row of bare, white aspen tree trunks in front of a grove of trees in full autumn color, Sierra Nevada, California.

Since I like both the wild colors of autumn aspens and the stark bare white trunks of the trees after the leaves fall, it is should be no surprise that this scene attracted me – in the front is a row of trees that had lost their leaves and behind is a small grove with wild yellow, gold, and red leaves.

I photographed this group of trees in soft afternoon light in the upper reaches of the drainage below South Lake where the sun drops behind higher ridges early at this time of year. The aspen conditions were a bit unusual here when I visited: some trees that had changed colors earlier had lost all or most of their leaves due to a cold snap and some very strong winds, but other trees seemed to be late in changing colors and were still green.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Commentary

Plans Change

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I had originally intended to hit the road this afternoon for points east of the Sierra crest for another round of aspen color (and other subjects) photography… but I changed my mind within the past 48 hours or so. Why? Several reasons, actually:

  • Folks who are currently in the eastern Sierra and whose reports I follow are saying that the aspen color situation is still a bit difficult this season. As I expected, the highest groves are mostly devoid of leaves at this point and, oddly, many of the lower level groves have not shown signs of great color yet either. I’m not at all certain that another drive up there today would gain me better opportunities than I had during the past few weeks.
  • With that in mind, the idea of another 600-800+ miles of driving is a bit less attractive (to put it mildly!) than it might otherwise be.
  • I want to find some time to more thoroughly go over the aspen and other photographs that I’ve made during the past few weeks – so far I’ve only had a chance to “pick off” the most obvious keepers, and I know there are others there that require a closer look.
  • I want to make some prints this weekend!
  • I want to attend a concert this weekend at which the orchestra (of which my wife is a member) performs a few favorite pieces.

So, with all of this to consider, I’m going to put far less mileage on my car this weekend – though I may just make up for it the following week!

Commentary

More signs of fall in the High Sierra

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I returned last night from a four-day pack trip into the Lyell Canyon/Vogelsang HSC area of the Yosemite back-country, and the signs of the coming fall are numerous.

  • Perhaps most apparent is the smaller number of people in the back-country! Although I traveled some quite popular trails I saw only a small number of backpackers. Ah, post Labor Day in the Sierra – my favorite time!
  • Many of the annual plants are dying and turning shades of brown, yellow, and gold. The mule ears have almost all lost their summer green color, the leaves of plants around treeline are beginning to turn yellow and red, and almost all of the grasses have gone to seed and turned golden-brown.
  • Although there has not yet been a real early fall storm, the weather pattern is starting to show signs of approaching weather systems.
  • The leaves of a few aspen trees are beginning to change colors. I haven’t been to the “east side” since mid-August, but in Yosemite I saw a very small number of yellow aspen leaves on trees along Yosemite Creek just yesterday.
  • Even some of the lower elevation plants are changing – also yesterday, I saw red leaves of some of the dogwood trees along highway 120 just inside Yosemite.
Gallery, Site News

Photography Gallery Update

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I’ve made some significant changes over at my Photography Gallery, where I archive the photographs posted on this blog and elsewhere. The major change has been to switch to a simple layout that focuses more on the photographic images and, I hope, is a bit more logical to navigate. Let me know what you think!